Guided by Faith and Fortitude, Brody Malone Has Made it to Paris

Gina Pongetti Angeletti, Megan Roth and Christopher Korotky contributed to this article.

The Olympics are calling up Brody Malone. And he’s ready. This time, though, it’s going to be so much sweeter.

After winning the U.S. All-Around title back-to-back in 2021 and 2022, Malone (EVO Gymnastics) began storming the international scene, including earning the title of World Champion on high bar in Liverpool in 2022. He was on a roll, with his high difficulty sets and crisp execution, poised to go toe-to-toe with the best of the best in the lead up to Paris. But in 2023, he suffered an absolutely devastating injury at the DTB Pokal Cup: a tibial plateau fracture, a partially torn PCL, and a fully torn LCL. What followed was a grueling repair and recovery regime, beginning with his first surgery right after the event in Germany that required flying home with an external fixator (a metal device holding bones in position but sticking out to connect to each other). On the day he landed back in the U.S., he underwent a second surgery, followed by a third and final surgery in July of last year. All of them carefully paired with hundreds of hours in physical therapy in and out of the gym, and doing even more rehab independently. 

All the while, he had his eyes on the climb to return to the Olympic stage in Paris. Sometimes down, but never deterred, he’s guided by his strong faith and an incredible support system.

“God got me through it,” Malone told us of the process. “And then on top of that, just my friends and family. My fiancée came out and basically took care of me when I was stuck in the bed. Just having those people close to that just helped me get through it.”

Fast forward through those three surgeries and a punishing rehab process and Malone is back and ready to make a run for his second Olympic Games. At the recent Xfinity U.S. Championships in Fort Worth, Malone earned his third national title in what was his first return to All-Around competition. Absolutely remarkable.

“I’m very proud of Brody,” Malone’s coach Syque Caesar said. “He had a long and grueling recovery process to be in competitive form. To perform at such a high level at the U.S. Championships is a testament to his determination, work ethic, discipline, and methodical approach over this last year in his training.” 

Malone is thankful for that superb coaching staff guiding him through the process and one of the best training gyms in the country. “The facility is amazing,” Malone says. “The coaches are awesome. And then we have a very tight-knit team down there.”

Even his competitors have acknowledged how Malone is inspiring and motivating them. “I mean, it just shows Brody is a dog, number one,” his teammate Frederick Richard said. “So much respect for him. So much respect to just come back and dominate. He’s definitely going to push me in the gym.”

For Malone, the victory in Texas was a boost in his confidence, but he remained grounded and focused, Paris in sight. “I’ve prepared for these competitions for my whole life,” he said. The day after he was named to the team at Olympic Trials he noted making a second Olympic team and the anticipated experience was about to be sweeter compared to Tokyo, simply because of all he’d been through.

And in podium training today under the lights in Paris’ Bercy Arena, he was business as usual during his sets but on the sidelines, looked relaxed and ready (even taking a few moments to down a little honey, goldfish crackers, a power bar, and at one point, even looked like he might be dancing a little).

‘It’s been a long journey for sure,” he said today in Paris, reiterating, “I mean, with the support that I’ve had from my family, my teammates, my coaches, and the medical staff, the medical staff has been amazing. Just taking it day by day and set a little goal for each day that I know I reach. And that’s how I approach it. Just every day, wake up and just be like, what can I get better at today?”

After my injury, it put things in a good perspective for me. You never know how bad you want something until you have it taken away from you, and that was what happened. I mean, I’ve just been taken every day, just having a lot of gratitude being grateful for every day that I’ve been given and able to push towards making it back to this point. It’s hard not to be happy when you’re just grateful for it.”

The U.S. men compete in Subdivision 1 of 3 in Qualifications starting on pommel horse. 5am ET 11am local.

Photo credits: Ricardo Bufolin and Lloyd Smith for Inside Gymnastics

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